:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Sunday, November 11, 2007 ::

:: Football! ::

My little brother sent me tickets to a Dolphins game and I finally got to go to my first football here in Miami. I went with my co-worker buddy Chuck, who's a big Dolphins fan (which is probably why he has a drinking problem). He loves football as much as I do and was so excited that he calls me early this morning about an hour before he came to pick me up.

"Hey, you ready to go?"

"Now? You're supposed to pick me up in an hour."

"Yeah, but I'm just sitting around doing nothing."

I needed a quick shower so I told him to pick me up in thirty minutes. Twenty minutes later he calls again.

"Hey, what kinda beer do you want?"

"Umm, I don't care. I just bought some Sierra Nevada."

"No dude, I'm buying cans. Bottle breaks and shit. You like Coors?"

I wasn't sure what he was planning that we'd end up breaking beer bottles (he's from Texas, maybe he wanted to shoot some empties in the parking lot) but I wasn't going to argue with someone who wanted to buy beer. He picked me up, got a couple of subs, and tailgated at the parking lot for about an hour; eating, drinking beer, and tossing the football around. It was awesome. He got a nice buzz going and as we made our way to the stadium we passed a row of police cars and he said, "hey, let me get a photo of us drinking beer in front of these cars."

What it is about going to sporting events that turns men in their thirties into college frat boys? I don't know but it's awesome.

We found our seats, which were on the upper deck near the red zone. Not quite nosebleed, but we had a great view of the entire field. (It was also my first time at Dolphin Stadium for a game that wasn't baseball). We were surrounded by rowdy DolPhans, though not rowdy enough for Chuck, who tried to start a chant every time Buffalo had 3rd down. He maintained his buzz through the whole game, which was impressive considering they stop beer sales after the third quarter.

If you've never been to a game, you realize how TV-centric the timing of everything is. There were moments where the players on the field were just standing around waiting out a commercial break. We also had to endure the PA announcer, who wasn't that good.

But few things beat seeing an eagle-eye view of the game unfolding before your eyes. Seeing the offensive and defensive formations, watching the play unfold from high up, you really appreciate the complexities of football in a way you just can't grasp on TV. That and being surrounded by the immediate fan response to anything positive (the one touchdown Miami scored) or negative (the four passes Marty Booker dropped) makes the atmosphere and experience a lot of fun. It's also fun if you're seated near an avid who's had one too many beers and tries to start chants by shouting at everyone around him as well as towards the field; in my case that fan happened to be Chuck. Every time the Bills threatened, he's get up and start yelling "GO DEFEEEEENNSE!!!" (He's married to a lovely woman but she's Colombian, which means she thinks that if he's not at home, he's a skirt-chasing bastard. He doesn't get out much.)

As for the the game itself? Not very high scoring, frustrating at times, exhilarating at others, but overall great because it had just enough suspense at the end as to whether or not the Dolphins could pull it out. I need to do this more often.

Labels: alkie, drinking, football, NaBloPoMo

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 9:34 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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